Post #470: Zherdev lower body injury, not likely to play January 6th

Zherdev will never replace Gagne's work on the defensive side of the puck, but nobody expected him to. We have other players to pick that up. His play of late has been very good. if he can stay focused he will be fine. Lavi seems to have gotten his attention lately.

He's been getting involved and working hard, and his mental lapses are down.

My complaints about him are going away, it's clear he's working to get a spot instead of folding, and I respect that.

His last few games have easily been his best all-around performances. Hopefully Lavy's tough love is pushing him in the right direction, and we'll get a bit more consistent play the rest of the season.

Nodl has replaced gagne's defense and PK. But Z is actually starting to work hard. I've got no problem with picking out of the penalty box, pre-lockout that was standard procedure. The guy is a pure goal scorer, and only making 2mil this season, can't beat it.

His last few games have easily been his best all-around performances. Hopefully Lavy's tough love is pushing him in the right direction, and we'll get a bit more consistent play the rest of the season.

I hope for this as well. If this isn't a fluke, then I think he could be plugged into nearly any line. He's good at making plays for himself, and occasionally others. That's nice to have.

So, I am going to post this now so that I can quote it in a few weeks when Zherdev makes a mistake and everyone calls for his head.

You are all hypocrites.

Not this guy, good to see him play some good games. But this is just sample of a couple weeks, can he sustain this over the year? If so they have a good situation with the JvR/Carter/Zherdev all being strong skaters this should work well if each supports their role on this unit. Problem can be going forward is that each player has their own shortcomings, it will be interesting to see if they can develop some solid chemistry going forward?

Zherdev is the x-factor...each team that wins/goes to the stanley cup finals has one. Last year we had Leino and Giroux..those two are still amazing but now more familiar to teams/goal tenders. Zherdev manages to surprise teams and can make plays that most of our Canadian talents can not. No he won't replace Gagne but I gaurantee he would get us the BIG goals we need in the BIG games.

Zherdev is the x-factor...each team that wins/goes to the stanley cup finals has one. Last year we had Leino and Giroux..those two are still amazing but now more familiar to teams/goal tenders. Zherdev manages to surprise teams and can make plays that most of our Canadian talents can not. No he won't replace Gagne but I gaurantee he would get us the BIG goals we need in the BIG games.

Agreed, if you watch his highlight videos, a lot of his goals occur when the score is tied late in the game. A solid amount of them are against Pittsburgh as well.

I have read on the Ranger's board that he was a no show in their one playoff run but with the kind of depth the Flyers have, he will have the opportunity to succeed big time against weaker competition.

Zherdev is the x-factor...each team that wins/goes to the stanley cup finals has one. Last year we had Leino and Giroux..those two are still amazing but now more familiar to teams/goal tenders. Zherdev manages to surprise teams and can make plays that most of our Canadian talents can not. No he won't replace Gagne but I gaurantee he would get us the BIG goals we need in the BIG games.

I remain cautiously optimistic. He has been big for us in games against Pittsburgh and the Rangers during the regular season. However, we all know that the playoffs are a different animal. Does Zherdev have playoff experience? With the Rangers? No? I wonder if he is one of those guys who has a sixth gear?

People had every right to criticize Z at the start of the year. He was playing KHL selfish hockey. There is a reason Lavi scratched him.

He is now playing great NHL hockey with no more mistakes than everyone else. People need to get off their high horses about the "hypocrites" tag on people who(including me) hard on him. He deserved it. His game is 100% better now than it was at game 10 or whenever he first got scratched.

His last few games have easily been his best all-around performances. Hopefully Lavy's tough love is pushing him in the right direction, and we'll get a bit more consistent play the rest of the season.

It's funny how the Zherdev bridge has been screaming about Lavi sucking and now that Zherdev is actually competing (which wasn't happening earlier in the season) and is on a 30-goal pace, the same people are nowhere to be found when it comes to Lavi bashing.

Meanwhile, this team has taken off since Lavi moved Carter to C (which many of us were clamoring for since Day 1).

In all fairness to Zherdev though, our coach seems to hate him for w/e reason(s).

Not a consistent forechecker, he often forces plays that aren't there, he is kind of selfish with the puck though he's been better lately, he doesn't exactly force himself to play defense, he overstays his shift, he takes stupid retaliation penalties, and he doesn't produce enough to offset all of his bad qualities.

The reasons are plentiful.

As I've said time and time again, Zherdev is what he is. He's a secondary scorer for cheap that offers nothing but secondary scoring. On this team, that's okay.

Not a consistent forechecker, he often forces plays that aren't there, he is kind of selfish with the puck though he's been better lately, he doesn't exactly force himself to play defense, he overstays his shift, he takes stupid retaliation penalties, and he doesn't produce enough to offset all of his bad qualities.

The reasons are plentiful.

As I've said time and time again, Zherdev is what he is. He's a secondary scorer for cheap that offers nothing but secondary scoring. On this team, that's okay.

Exactly and on top of that he's a on a one-year deal and probably not coming back next year. So there's no long-term point in healthy benching him for a crappier player like Shelley. In the short-term, any point in healthy benching Zherdev is strictly message-sending to the other players and it makes our roster worse in the process.

not sure if this has been mentioned but according to TSN, Zherdev missed the last game due to an injury

Quote:

Goaltender Brian Boucher is expected to start when the team plays again on Thursday in New Jersey. Defenseman Chris Pronger will undergo a scheduled CT scan on Tuesday to check the progress on the broken bone in his foot. Depending on the results, Pronger could be cleared to resume skating. Forward Nik Zherdev, who missed Sunday's game with a lower body injury, is ready to play. - Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News